Energy Consumption of Automatic Ice Makers Installed in Domestic Refrigerators, Revision 1

Published

December 7, 2011

Author(s)

David A. Yashar, Ki-Jung Park

Abstract

This study examines the energy consumption of automatic ice makers installed in domestic refrigerators. The purpose of this research is to determine a method of measuring the energy consumption of automatic ice makers that will generate a repeatable and reproducible result. This study examined four refrigerator-freezers of different configurations, one top-mount unit, one side-by-side unit, and two French-door units with bottom freezers. The components and operational modes of each ice maker varied among the test subjects. This study examined each automatic ice maker and its components, and discussed how the operation of each component contributed to the overall energy consumption. Two of the units had a single-speed compressor that maintained the compartments within a range of temperatures by switching on and off (cycling). Since this type of unit draws considerable power when the compressor operates and very little when it doesn’t, a good representation for energy consumption can only be obtained over a number of complete compressor cycles. However, the unit’s ice maker also produces cyclic variation in power draw; therefore accurate measurement of the ice maker energy consumption should also be obtained over a number of complete ice making cycles. Since the units’ compressor cycles and the ice making cycles are not coincident, it is difficult to determine the ice making energy using a predefined test period. The other two units employed inverter-driven, variable-speed compressors, which maintained a constant, part-load condition without cycling on and off. Determination of the ice making energy consumption for these units was rather straightforward since data could be examined over several complete ice making cycles. We also examined the conditions which affect the ice making energy consumption. The results of these tests showed that the ice making energy consumption is influenced by the operating temperatures inside the cabinets. The

Citation

Technical Note (NIST TN) - 1697-2011

Report Number

1697-2011

NIST Pub Series

Technical Note (NIST TN)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Keywords

energy consumption, ice maker, refrigerator

Citation

Yashar, D. and park, K. (2011), Energy Consumption of Automatic Ice Makers Installed in Domestic Refrigerators, Revision 1, Technical Note (NIST TN), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (Accessed April 23, 2024)